The collision closed Strathaven Road for almost six hours (Image: East Kilbride News)

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Four people were taken to hospital after a three-car smash on Strathaven Road.

The head-on collision has led to renewed calls for further speed restrictions on the “danger road”.

A Vauxhall Astra was reported to have strayed on to the northbound carriageway before colliding with two oncoming vehicles, another Astra and a Mazda.

Emergency services attended and paramedics treated some of the injured at the roadside.

The 28-year-old male driver of the southbound vehicle, his two male passengers, aged 20 and 31, escaped serious injury but were taken to Hairmyres Hospital as a precaution.

The 38-year-old driver of the Astra travelling northbound was initially thought to have suffered spinal injuries, but was found to have soft tissue damage to his back and chest. His 14-year-old male passenger and the male driver of the Mazda were uninjured.

The road was closed for nearly six hours as police carried out their investigations into the accident which happened at about 7pm on Sunday. Their enquiries are continuing.

The speed limit on the notorious stretch of Strathaven Road – where the double carriageway converges into a single-carriageway – was reduced from 50mph to 40 in 2010.

This followed a number of deaths and years of campaigning by East Kilbride East Councillor Jim Wardhaugh and St Leonards Community Council.

The speed restriction finally came after a head-on smash in 2009 which left Paul Fox – the brother of Conservative MP Dr Liam Fox – with life-threatening injuries.

Driver Craig Buchanan, then 20, was jailed for one year after pleading guilty to dangerous driving.

This week chairman of the community council, Graeme Macklin, reignited calls for further traffic calming measures.

He said: “I can’t understand why that stretch of the road drops to 40mph from 60 and goes back up to 50 again. It should be a continuous 40mph.

“Although no one was seriously hurt in Sunday’s crash, this is concerning. There is clearly still a problem here and we will be discussing it at our next meeting.”